Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am very grateful to everyone who has taken part in this extended debate, which has ranged well beyond my amendment. I am particularly grateful to the Minister for making an important statement of position, which I am sure that people concerned with this subject will wish to consider very carefully. We are at Report stage, which makes it very hard to do that further in this House. I should declare an interest as a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and because I am married to an immigration judge and therefore know a great deal about some of the burdens imposed. If I am allowed to be slightly political, in my view those burdens are the inheritance from previous bad decisions by the Home Office in previous legislation, which made the Administrative Court, as it should never have been, the primary court dealing with cases that should have been dealt with by the specialist Immigration Appeal Tribunal. That is, like past breaches of promises, history. I am more a practical solver of problems than I am a politician, and I share the concern expressed by the judiciary and by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, in particular, about the very heavy burdens clogging up the Administrative Court system. I fully understand all the reasons why it is desirable to transfer those cases which should be transferred so that the Administrative Court can deal with important judicial reviews. I do not have the wisdom of Solomon and, looking at these amendments, find it very difficult to give a prize based on whichever might be the best of the three. The amendment in my name has been taken over by legal eagles who have turned themselves into magpies, because they have popped my amendment into the amendment from the two opposition Front Benches and, to that extent, have made it unnecessary. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Pannick: left to myself, I would regard the amendment of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, as the one that comes closest to fixing the problem. I am not satisfied with the Minister’s reply that the problem has now been fixed; nor am I convinced by the argument that my amendment is not necessary. The Court of Appeal would have to consider whether permission to appeal should be granted, whatever the test. I do not think that the Court of Appeal has its burden relieved by raising the test for granting permission to appeal through the application of Section 13(6). Therefore, I regard my amendment as still desirable and perhaps necessary to achieve the object that I mentioned. However, that is now in the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland. My position is simply that I shall go for the highest common factor of political agreement across this House which will induce the Home Office to think again and enable the matter to come back to us when we all have time to consider the grave and weighty matters that have been debated. For that reason, I support the amendment of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, if moved, and I strongly support the amendment in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, and my noble friend Lord Thomas of Gresford. I say nothing about Scotland but I hope that nothing that I have said causes offence north of the border. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment 55C withdrawn.